Despite the growing demand from doctors across the United States for paperless medical records, or electronic medical records software (as it is typically known), the sales process has not grown much easier - for either the emr implementation expert, or the doctor-client.
The fact is, with great demand comes a larger competitor base, not to mention a mass influx of new practice management features included in most paperless medical records software packages. More choice can be good, and on the other hand, it can create confusion that is helpful for neither you nor your vendor.
Paperless Medical Records Needs
Once you've made the decision to include an emr software system or paperless medical records in your practice, the first thing you must recognize is what your actual needs are.
While larger practices can often benefit from a full slate of features included within their EMR product, smaller practices will have lesser needs. While there isn't a salesman in the paperless medical records industry who won't start out looking to provide you with as many bells and whistles that he can, a really good salesperson does something a bad one does not. He or she listens.
Separating The Wheat From The Chaff -
5 Questions To Ask Yourself
Before you begin looking at electronic medical records vendors proposals, it's important to ask yourself a few important questions about your practice.Some of these might be:
How computer savvy is the staff? This question is huge, because the less familiar that your staff is with computers, the more money and time you will spend training them.
Do you bill your own patients for services rendered? If so, including a medical billing module in your system proposal can be very helpful, and often not expensive to add-on.
Does your patient base include a lot of Medicaid patients? If so, adopting a paperless medical records software system offers your practice much larger government rebates per the Federal Stimulus package.
Is physical space an issue in your practice? One of the best benefits for many doctors is the fact that paperless medical records free up a lot of physical space that is currently used for storing paper medical records.
As a doctor, are you on the move between practice locations, hospitals, etc? If so, adopting an electronic paperless medical records system can increase your efficiencies simply because all patient information can be received and read by you using only your smartphone or PDA. It's a freedom thousands of doctors across the US take advantage of everyday. Are you missing out?
Get To Know MSA
Assessing our client's needs and providing the right products and services has been a knack for Medical Software Associates since we began doing business in the early 1990s.
Our products have changed over the years, technologically for the better, but with the same focus: on driving efficiencies for the end user. Adopting a paperless medical records system in your practice is no walk in the park, particularly if you currently do not have a system, but with the right knowledge, your implementation can go extremely smoothly. That's our job.
Yours is to contact us. To do so, please call the toll free number above, or request a demonstration CD
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